When considering just how David Moyes can thrive at Manchester United, it is worth recalling the morning it all began at Everton in March 2002. The Scot was running late, disorientated in the side-streets off Liverpool's Queens Drive as he sought out his new club's Bellefield training ground in the days before satnavs and Google maps. When he did eventually screech up outside the clubhouse there, lined up inside the lobby were David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne and Duncan Ferguson, a trio with gripes.

Gazza greeted the 39-year-old with a transfer request, the other seniors with demands for greater involvement that their form under Moyes's predecessor, Walter Smith, hardly merited. Kevin Campbell, David Weir, Alan Stubbs, David Unsworth and Thomas Gravesen were already in the changing rooms, the fog of scepticism thick as to whether an up-and-coming coach prised from Preston North End in the second tier could hope to stave off the very real threat of relegation. To complete a daunting first day in the job, the club doctor would telephone the manager that night to declare: "David, you don't know what you've taken on. You can't get this lot out of the treatment room."

Looking back, Moyes has admitted that first day as a Premier League manager was "the biggest in the job" given all the doubts that existed in a powerful, senior dressing room. The point, of course, is that he was far from afraid, even then, to make the bold decisions that ultimately kept Everton up that year and, in the seasons since, has established them as a force. Gascoigne was allowed to join Burnley, Ginola's appearances limited to a 12-minute cameo at Arsenal on the season's final afternoon. Ferguson was handed the captaincy for the manager's debut and scored in the defeat of Fulham.

There are egos in the Manchester United squad, too, players who have won every club honour on offer where their new manager has none, but Moyes will hardly be unnerved. He arrives with a reputation this time around whereas, 11 years ago, he did not.

A lack of trophies has been levelled at him as a criticism but when put into proper context his achievements in a little over a decade on Merseyside feel staggering. Moyes rebuilt Everton from within, his long-term vision having been laid out in his first board meeting a week into the job. He had cited the need to revitalise the squad with younger players. In time he would address the style the team favoured, reflecting the quality he had injected into the setup. There has been no talk of "projects", a modern buzzword to imply any kind of strategy, but there has nevertheless still been a pragmatic evolution, charted carefully by the management to ensure the club have punched above their weight. Everton had finished in the top 10 only once in the decade before his arrival. Under Moyes they have been fourth, fifth twice, sixth once, seventh three times and eighth, and are about to end above Liverpool for the second successive season.

Yet this is a club whose revenues for the last season were only £80.5m, £63.4m of which was taken up by salaries. Those other clubs in the current top seven pay considerably more with only Tottenham Hotspur, at around £90m, close to being comparable. Everton's wage bill is actually that of a mid-table club, and they had come to lean heavily upon the manager's diligence and tireless work ethic, that voracious appetite for self-improvement maintained. Honesty and industry are cliches in a manager's armoury these days, but they have applied to the Scot since his days at Drumchapel Amateurs: first into the training ground in the morning, last to leave at night, with blood and sweat both expected and appreciated.

But Moyes was not merely old school. He also brought with him a belief in ProZone statistics, video and data analysis that was ahead of its time, certainly outside the elite, which initially allowed him to extract more from the squad he inherited and, eventually, fine-tune the club's recruitment and scouting policy. He was backed in the move from Bellefield to an £8m training facility at Finch Farm, a Moyes instruction. The club's youth academy is now on the same site. "He's always looked for a little half a percent to make you better," said Weir, who is now on the coaching staff at the club.

The relative financial constraints under which he has operated have reinforced his instinctively meticulous approach. Everton can ill afford to spend multimillion-pound fees on players who may end up loitering on the bench. Every pound spent has had to improve the collective – a basic principle, perhaps, but one that escapes other clubs – and Moyes took it upon himself to be sure about every prospective addition.

He watched Tim Cahill 20 times before paying Millwall £1.5m for his services in 2004. The same applied to Joleon Lescott, bought from Wolves for £3.5m. The Dithering Davie moniker unfairly afforded him was merely a reflection of the manager's eagerness to be right, and he may acknowledge now that even Per Kroldrup, a Dane signed from Udinese in 2005 for £5m but sold at a loss after only two appearances a year later, might have been granted more time. Even then, lessons were learned: Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka were subsequently treated more patiently and eventually demonstrated their quality.

The margins may seem wider at United, the clout in the market far heftier, but the diligence is still attractive. Finding players who can improve a title-winning team is an art in itself and something Moyes will relish taking on. He can look back at his time at Everton with pride, his opportunity to oversee the champions hard earned but thoroughly merited. Moyes has been thrown in at the deep end before; he will not fear what lies ahead.